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Herbicides prices rose 20% in Brazil

According to information from Márcio Luiz Bonesi, president of the Association of Soya and Maize Producers of Paraná (Aprosoja-PR), the cost of purchasing herbicides has increased by 20%. Bonesi said this inflation is worrisome, because this class of pesticides represent more than 60% of these products used in Brazil.

According to Imea (Instituto Matogrossense de Economia Agropecuária), the cost of soybean production in the 2018/19 crop increased in Mato Grosso, the main producer of the oilseed crop in Brazil. Farmers in that state paid, on average, R$140.09 per hectare, including for herbicides, which was the equivalent of US$ 38.

Bonesi noted that glyphosate is one of the products that has also increased in price since last year. He explains that the main factor responsible for the increase is the rising cost for raw materials, due to a decrease in the supply of the active ingredient following the closure of several factories in China.

"The costs of glyphosate are really high. Currently, 97% of the areas planted with soybeans in Brazil are genetically modified. This way, the producer gets stuck with the product. Our dependence on glyphosate is such that when a ban on sales and use was issued in 2018, we conducted a study and evaluated the impact which affected at least 30% of soybean crops, since there is no product with such efficiency and low environmental impact," he said.

Another problem faced by Brazilian farmers is that the inputs were bought using a dollar that had a higher value, in relation to the Real. Now, however, the crop is being harvested and sold after the US currency lost value, compared to the Brazilian, after the election of President Jair Bolsonaro - whose polices are viewed with optimism in world markets.